Beech Grove honored as Indiana’s first Gold Level ‘Clean Community’

The City of Beech Grove has been awarded Gold Level status in the Indiana Department of Environmental Management's (IDEM) Clean Community program. Beech Grove is the first municipality to achieve gold tier status since IDEM reintroduced the program in 2021.

"I congratulate Beech Grove on their work to earn this recognition," said IDEM Commissioner Clint Woods. "City leadership worked earnestly on behalf of their citizens to ensure a community dedicated to environmental stewardship. Being the first municipality to reach this milestone is a significant and well-deserved honor."

Municipalities in the Clean Community Program can progress through three levels: Bronze, Silver, and Gold by completing projects that align with their community's sustainability goals at their own pace.

Several of Beech Grove's accomplishments in qualifying for gold-level status include:  

• Hosting 'Tox-Away" events
• Installing green infrastructure in parking areas
• Conducting a Brownfield Inventory
• Passing local ordinances to improve stormwater management

"As a small city, we work tirelessly to deliver the highest quality services for our residents, while creatively implementing initiatives that are both tangible and future-facing," said Mayor James Coffman. "We are honored to work alongside IDEM to become the first city in Indiana to earn gold status, as it reflects on our community's commitment to being thoughtful stewards of our environment for generations to come."

In addition, Beech Grove has earned the Tree City USA designation, and the city distributes trees to residents through the annual "Going Green in the Grove" event. Beech Grove also has a robust curbside recycling program that collects approximately 38 tons each month. Beech Grove's food waste reduction program salvaged over 137,000 pounds of food in its third year as a pilot community.

Beech Grove's Clean Team members, including the Mayor's Office, Wessler Engineering, the Department of Public Works and the Beech Grove Parks Department, led the city's application and progress through the Clean Community Program.

Established by the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) in the early 2000s, the Clean Community Program (previously called the Clean Community Challenge) recognizes Indiana counties, cities and towns that take a proactive, positive approach towards ensuring a better quality of life for all Hoosiers and a healthy economy by working to address community and social issues through sustainable environmental and wellness projects.

Other Clean Communities and their levels include:

• Silver: Brown County, Fishers, Richmond, and Zionsville
• Bronze: Bloomington, Evansville, Fortville, Hobart, Merrillville, New Castle and New Chicago

IDEM invites municipalities and community partners interested in participating in the new Indiana Clean Community Program to learn more at on.IN.gov/cleancommunity.